I was wondering if there is someone on this forum who dealt successfully with a separation anxiety.
This is my situation. We have a dog run/pen next to our house and that is where I leave my dog when I have to go places. Based on my observations this is what is going on while I am gone. I leave some toys with him in the dog run and he has dish with water there. When I am taking him in the dog run I put a dish with treats there too. When I get back the treats are gone (he eats them withing the first few seconds after I leave), the toys are untouched and I don't know for sure, but I would bet that he does not touch the water at all and that he does not pee in the dog run either. The dog run has grass area and also area without grass, it is quite large. I think while I am gone all he does is run from one end of the run to the other and barks and howls. He does not have any issues to go in the run even-though he knows that I will be leaving. He knows the routine. Also, when we are just doing stuff around the house and I go in the dog run for any reason, he follows me without hesitation.
His behavior while I am gone drives me crazy. I don't stay away from home for too long because only thing on my mind is that the dog is howling and barking and stressing out, so I rush home. It has been pretty stressful for both of us. It has been going on like this for several years now. I read whatever I could find on internet, I read books, I read Cesar Millan's advice, but none of it seems to work for me. I take him for walks twice a day and I tried to walk him the third time just before putting him in the dog run, but it did not help any, it did not make any difference. I have to admit that when I leave him alone it is because I have to go somewhere (grocery shopping, see a doctor, ......), not because I would like to go somewhere (like movies, see friends, go to the ocean,....).
Sometimes when the weather is too bad we leave him inside in his crate, but I think that stresses him out too. Maybe not as much as the dog run, but still it stresses him out. He sleeps in the crate at night and he has not issues with that. PLEASE!!!! if someone has a real life experience how to deal with this let me know. On top of everything he has GI issues. I have learned that it is pretty common for dogs with GI issues to have separation anxiety, though I am not sure which one of the two came about first. I forgot to mention one thing, that when left alone he never destroys anything (toys in his crate or dog run, bedding in the crate or dog run, does not chew the dog house in pieces..............).

What you tried so far to resolve this behavior?

Pete

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Sonny, the black lab, ran ahead to make sure there were no gophers or jackrabbits in the way. If you don't give a dog a specific job, he'll improvise one for himself and it will invariably be fun. There's a lesson there.
John Gierach

I gave him a toy with treats in it, so it kept him busy longer. After we came back from a walk I used to close him in the dog run and e.g. took trash to street or went for a short walk by myself just close enough so I could hear him. He did o.k., sometimes I even found him lying when I came back. This worked only for short periods of time.

You might have a look at this thread...all dogs are different but this might give you some ideas...

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/...n-anxiety.html (Crate Training / Seperation Anxiety)


Pete

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Sonny, the black lab, ran ahead to make sure there were no gophers or jackrabbits in the way. If you don't give a dog a specific job, he'll improvise one for himself and it will invariably be fun. There's a lesson there.
John Gierach

Was just about to give him the link to my thread - one step ahead of me! :-)

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R.I.P. My Beloved Brandy 12/24/95 - 4/2/12